How is Japan adapting to remote working and learning?

How is Japan adapting to remote working and learning?
Education, government and enterprises are using Microsoft Teams to continue operations

Elly Yates-Roberts |


Organisations across Japan are using Microsoft solutions to continue daily operations while working and learning from home due to Covid-19 isolation measures. 

Schools in Japan have been closed since 27 February and are expected to remain so until early May. According to a recent Microsoft story by Jared Spataro, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, the Chiba University Faculty of Education, Affiliated Elementary School took its lessons online using Microsoft Teams after the closure. Students have also been using the platform to connect for virtual lunches and homeroom sessions. 

Despite many graduation ceremonies around the world being postponed or cancelled, the Ritsumeikan Primary School in Kyoto managed to include families in their children’s graduations by streaming the graduate-only ceremony live through Microsoft Teams. 

Governmental organisations have also been using Teams to maintain normal workflows. The city of Osaka used the platform to host an orientation ceremony and training sessions for new staff members, at the start of April. They shared the pre-recorded videos with employees through Microsoft Stream. 

In addition, the crisis management and disaster prevention office in Kumamoto, Kyushu, created a Covid-19 taskforce to manage the outbreak and share information with the necessary bodies. The taskforce uses Teams to meet with staff from the city’s health centres and share the latest statistics about the disease. 

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo moved 8,800 of its employees to remote working at the start of the outbreak in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19. To maintain business processes as much as possible, these staff members are using Teams to work with other businesses to provide medicine and ensure their own safety. 

Beverage firm Suntory is also using the platform to replicate the office environment and host virtual gym classes for employees. 

“We are so proud to support these customers as they adapt to remote learning and remote work,” wrote Spataro. “From teachers connecting with students in virtual classrooms to taskforces connecting agilely from their mobile phones, they have shown resilience and ingenuity during a truly challenging time.” 

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